Barbecued Beef (Korean Style)

Yesterday I had the urge to go to one of my favorite food shopping destinations, Uwajimaya in Beaverton. While living in Seattle I would occasionally drop by the original store when I was wandering around the Pioneer Square area. I was not a very adventurous cook in those days though, so the store didn't excite me as it does now. For those of you readers who aren't familiar, it's a huge grocery store that encompasses many Asian food cultures. It is quite an experience going up and down the aisles looking at products and not having a clue as to what they are or what they are for.

I had no menu in mind as I walked in the door and was delighted to find a large kiosk filled with recipe cards of all sorts. After glancing through them, I decided on the following recipe for something called Bulgogi or Korean style barbecued beef. It didn't indicate on the recipe what type of beef to use so I chose the beef pictured below. I found the labeling to be quite humorous regarding the 100% vegetarian diet statement. It's good to know this cow had low cholesterol, even if I don't. Anyway, this was a very easy meal to prepare and I grilled the beef on my cast iron grill pan as opposed to a charcoal barbecue which would be the more traditional way to go.

Bulgogi Barbecued Beef

1 lb. beef steak, thinly sliced

Sauce

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp. honey

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced fresh ginger root

1 Tbsp sesame seed oil

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tsp (or more to taste) red chili flakes

1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Add sliced beef and allow to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. Cook meat until rare. I served this with jasmine rice, grilled green onions, and a side salad of cucumber ribbons dressed with seasoned rice vinegar which was a nice cool compliment to the hot beef dish.